At this year’s sold-out class on Saturday, Hartnett will show young chefs how to make cupcakes look like Easter baskets by topping them with shredded coconut “grass” and jelly bean “eggs.” The kids will also assemble “bunny mobiles” by wedging rabbit-shaped marshmallow Peeps into cars fashioned out of Twinkies with pretzels for steering wheels.

“Kids love jelly beans and Peeps because they can actually get away with playing with their food,” Hartnett says.

Not all adults outgrow the urge to play with Easter candy: Pastry chefs at several local bakeries are serving up sweets adorned with pastel M&Ms, sugar-dusted Peeps and chocolatey Cadbury Creme Eggs just in time for the spring holiday.

At Cami’s Cakes and Coffee, 800 Main St. in Eudora, Kan., customers can purchase brown paper bags of white chocolate popcorn mixed with malted milk balls and pastel sprinkles, as well as white chocolate-almond bark speckled with crushed spring-themed Oreo cookies and M&Ms.

“We would freeze the egg first so it wouldn’t melt so fast,” she says.

San Romani is skipping those this year in favor of strawberries dipped in orange-colored chocolate, which resemble juicy carrots.

Decadent — A Coffee and Dessert Bar, at 5601 W. 135th St., Suite 2220, in Overland Park, lives up to its name with Cadbury Creme Egg cupcakes and milkshakes. The shakes are made by blending dark chocolate ice cream with a handful of egg candies, then topping the super-sweet concoction with whipped cream.

Decadent also serves cupcakes that are made and topped with Peeps. The marshmallow candies melt as they bake in the batter, which makes for a sweet and sticky cupcake.

If you prefer your Peeps cold, head to Saturday’s pop-up shop at Natasha’s Mulberry & Mott’s commercial kitchen, 216 W. 73rd St. During the sale from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the bakery will sell house-made Peeps ice cream while supplies last.

Owner Natasha Goellner uses several colors of Peeps — not just classic yellow — for a dazzling rainbow effect. She pulls them into pieces before adding them to the ice cream’s vanilla-lemon base.

Goellner says her favorite Easter candies are the malted milk eggs that resemble robins’ eggs, which inspired the blue-speckled appearance of her bakery’s chocolate-flavored French macarons. She also likes Cadbury Creme Eggs but can’t bring herself to bake with them.

“I don’t think those should be messed with,” she says. “They’re really good on their own.”

Erin Brown, owner of Dolce Bakery in Prairie Village, says her favorite way to use leftover Easter candy is in her mom, Teri Reynolds’, tried and true recipe for Monster Cookies. The recipe yields an amazing 8 dozen, so Brown said her mom “ had to mix it in a basin because it is such a huge batch and it wouldn’t fit in our mixer.”

Combine sugars, butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (Alternatively, if the bowl of your electric mixer is too small, mix the dough by hand in a large bowl or basin.) Cream until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs 1 or 2 at a time, then add vanilla.

Scrape down the bowl and mix (or stir) again until the mixture is smooth and combined. If necessary, transfer to a larger bowl or basin, then stir in the oats and baking soda in 4 or 5 additions. Stir in chocolate candy, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Line trays with waxed paper. Microwave butterscotch or chocolate chips in large microwave-safe bowl, uncovered, on medium-high power for 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until chips are melted. Stir in peanut butter until well blended.